Syllabus

Aim of the course:

to understand basic radiation processes in astrophysics, their physics and their applications.

Textbook:

Radiative Processes in Astrophysics    Rybicki & Lightman, 1979

Optional Readings:

1. Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae & Active Galactic Nuclei,   

Osterbrock 1989

                        lots of real numbers and realistic situations

2. Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium,   

Spitzer  1978

                        many real world numbers

3. Classical Electrodynamics,  

Jackson 1999

                good basics on EM

4. Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles, 

Bohren & Huffman 1983

  thorough discussion of dust optical properties                

5. Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei, 

Kembhavi & Narlika 1999 

physical discussion of synchrotron and compton

6. Physics of Astrophysics: Radiation

                        Shu 1991

                        more in-depth on line transitions, formal treatments

7. Astrophysics of the Diffuse Universe

                        Dopita & Sutherland 2002

These books are on reserve in the astro library, on a special table. Please, when you are doing research (for presentations and homeworks), your first source of information shouldn’t be google, but scholarly books like these.

Course Outline:

(see Course calendar)

Grading

-- 4 assignments  (40%): see calendar for posting and due dates; collaboration is encouraged, but write-up must be independent.

-- We will run presentations throughout the term (40%). These include two short (10 mins = 6mins talk + 4 mins discussion) and one long (20 min. talk + 10 min. discussions/questions) presentations per student.

-- The final exam will be a take-home exam of 3 hours duration (no references may be consulted). (20%)

Office Hours

Either catch me after lectures, or book an appointment by email.